Former Commissioner Scoppetta speaks at the renaming ceremony of ACS’ Children’s Center in 2013

Statement from Commissioner Gladys Carrión

I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former ACS Commissioner, colleague and friend, Nicholas Scoppetta.

Commissioner Scoppetta was a remarkable public servant with nearly half a century of service to our city. He served as ACS’s first commissioner when the agency was created more than 20 years ago. I know that the tremendous progress ACS has made, including the historic decline in the number of children in foster care, record low caseloads, and our vast array of prevention services are built on Nick’s vision to do right by the city’s most vulnerable children and families. For Nick, his work and dedication to child welfare was profoundly personal having once been in foster care himself. As commissioner, he led the effort to create a new Children’s Center, where most children arrive once they are taken into foster care. He was determined to ensure that our children would receive a warm, welcoming and caring environment. In 2013, ACS honored his leadership by naming the Children’s Center after him.